A Profile of Pedophilia: Definition, Characteristics of Offenders, Recidivism, Treatment Outcomes, and Forensic Issues

2007:

Pedophilia has become a topic of increased interest, awareness, and concern for both the medical community and the public at large. Increased media exposure, new sexual offender disclosure laws, Web sites that list the names and addresses of convicted sexual offenders, politicians taking a “get tough” stance on sexual offenders, and increased investigations of sexual acts with children have increased public awareness about pedophilia. Because of this increased awareness, it is important for physicians
to understand pedophilia, its rate of occurrence, and the characteristics of pedophiles and sexually abused children. In this article, we address research that defines the various types and categories of pedophilia, review available federal data on child molestation and pornography, and briefly discuss the theories on what makes an individual develop a sexual orientation toward children.

This article also examines how researchers determine if someone is a pedophile, potential treatments for pedophiles and sexually abused children, the risk of additional sexual offenses, the effect of mandatory reporting laws on both physicians and pedophiles, and limitations of the current pedophilic literature. ..Source.. by RYAN C. W. HALL, MD, AND RICHARD C. W. HALL, MD, PA

PEDOPHILIA: LAWS FIGHTING NATURE INSTEAD OF COPING WITH IT

January 2016:

Left-handed people or “lefties” have been discriminated against throughout history. They have been ostracized by society, had their dominant hand tied behind their back, and even burned as witches.1 In fact, the words for left or left-handed in many languages have negative connotations.2 For example, the word for left in Latin is sinistre, from which the word sinister is derived.3 Yet being a lefty is not a choice, people are born left-handed. In fact, handedness is directly linked to dominant hemispheres in the brain.4 Historically, efforts have been made to convert lefties into righties, such as forcing them to learn to write with their right hand.5 However, despite these efforts, natural lefties continue to prefer the left hand.6

So what does left-handedness have in common with pedophilia? Well, the answer is actually that the two have a lot in common with each other. It all comes down to science. Recent research indicates that pedophilia, a sexual attraction to pre-pubescent children, is actually a biological condition in the brain that individuals are born with, similar to handedness.7 In addition, there is a scientific connection between being left-handed and suffering from pedophilia.8 Also, as with left-handedness, there does not appear to be a cure for pedophilia.9

Nevertheless, while comparisons between pedophilia and left-handedness exist, there is a glaringly obvious distinction. Left-handedness is a victimless condition, pedophilia is not. This distinction, in light of recent research linking pedophilia to the brain and natural biology, raises an interesting question as to how these individuals should be treated in society, particularly in the law. Should pedophiles be subjected to increasingly harsh criminal penalties and civil restrictions when they are born with the condition and cannot cure it? The stated goal of sex offender laws targeting pedophiles is public safety, the need to protect children from sexual abuse.10 However, if pedophilia is a biological condition developed in the brain before birth, then the question arises whether laws targeting pedophiles also need to adapt and address this condition. This article argues that the best way to achieve this goal is for the law to move away from the excessively stigmatizing system that only reaches pedophiles after they offend, with questionable effect, to a system that encourages both treatment and prevention. ..Continued.. by Andrea Friedman*

How many men are paedophiles? "1 to 5 Percent?" "Authored by?"

July 2014 National:

How many men are paedophiles?
by Wesley Stephenson BBC News

As soon as you give this question a moment's thought, you realise that it's not going to be an easy one to answer. Paedophiles are not easy to identify.

"Because paedophilia is so secretive and so few people are willing to admit it, there is no meaningful way to get a reliable estimate," says Dr James Cantor, a psychologist and sexual behaviour scientist at the University of Toronto. (Full Bio HERE)

"There's no meaningfully ethical way of taking 200 men, hooking them up to detectors, showing them pictures of adults and children and seeing how many respond most to children."

One person who has attempted an estimate is Dr Michael Seto, a clinical and forensic psychologist at the Royal Ottawa Healthcare group.

In 2008 he wrote a book (Pedophilia) in which he put the prevalence of paedophilia in the general population at 5%.

The figure was based on surveys conducted in Germany, Norway and Finland in which men were asked whether they had ever had sexual thoughts or fantasies about children or engaged in sexual activity with children.

But Seto stresses that 5% was an upper estimate, and that the studies were limited in what they revealed.

"What those surveys don't include are questions on the intensity of those thoughts and fantasies, whether they were repeated or not. Someone might say 'Yes' because they once had a fantasy but our understanding of paedophilia would be that that person recurringly had sexual thoughts and fantasies about children."

Now, with more data and better methodology, he has revised his figure down to about 1% of the population, though he makes clear this is still only an educated guess.

Pedophilia: Diagnostic Concepts Treatment, and Ethical Considerations

The full paper by Dr Berlin, is here.

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Scandal creates contempt for Catholic clergy

A steady stream of revelations and civil lawsuits over child sexual abuse by priests seem to signal the Catholic Church has the biggest problem with clerical scandals, but experts deny it is a hot zone of exploitation.

Insurance companies, child advocacy groups and religion scholars say there is no evidence that Catholic clergy are more likely to be involved in sexual misconduct than other clergy or professionals. Yet ongoing civil litigation of decades-old cases against a church with deep pockets keeps the Catholic Church in the headlines.

“There is no plausible evidence that Catholic priests are gangs of sexual predators, as they are being portrayed,” said Pennsylvania State University Prof. Philip Jenkins, eminent religion and history scholar, and a non-Catholic who’s studied the church’s abuse problems for 20 years.

Pedophilia

April 2009:

Abstract:
Pedophilia is defined as a sexual interest in prepubescent children. It is empirically linked with sexual offending against children: Child pornography offenders and sex offenders with child victims are more likely to be pedophiles based on self-report or objective measures of sexual interests.

At the same time, some pedophiles have not had any known sexual contact with children, and perhaps half of sex offenders against children would not meet diagnostic criteria for pedophilia. Pedophilia can be diagnosed using a variety of methods and is an important factor to consider in the assessment of sex offenders because pedophilic offenders are more likely to sexually reoffend and require different interventions.

There is no evidence to suggest that pedophilia can be changed. Instead, interventions are designed to increase voluntary control over sexual arousal, reduce sex drive, or teach self-management skills to individuals who are motivated to avoid acting upon their sexual interests. ..Source.. by Michael C. Seto (Bio)
Royal Ottawa Health Care Group and University of Toronto, Brockville, Ontario K6V 5W7 Canada; email: Michael.Seto@rohcg.on.ca

Pedophilia
Annual Review of Clinical Psychology
Vol. 5: 391-407 (Volume publication date April 2009)
DOI: 10.1146/annurev.clinpsy.032408.153618

Unfortunately the video has been removed: Audio where Dr Seto was interviewed and addresses the question "How many pedophiles are there in society" about 2:50 minutes into video:..

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See also Dr Seto testimony before the US Sentencing Commission on Child Pornography

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